Internal-combustion engine.



E.U.G.REAGAN.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

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E. U. G. REAGAN.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, 1913.

1,1 32,489. Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

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EDGAR U. G. REAGAN, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. is, 1915.

Application filed July 2a, 1913. Serial No. 781,462.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR U. G. REAGAN,

'a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State similar liquid is evaporated into steam form and conducted into the exhaust ports of the cylinders of the engine.

The invention has, furthermore, for its object the provision of an apparatus of this nature in which the generation of such steam is effected directlyby the heat of the engine exhaust manifold, so that conse quently the greater portion of the heat,

' Wasted heretofore, will be made useful, and

the temperature of the exhaust pipe, as well as that of the space beneath the hood, will be materially decreased.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of means, in connection with the exhaust manifold, of water container surrounding said manifold in such a manner that the heat of the exhaust gases passed through said manifold will be transferred to the water, while at the same time a space'is provided in which the generated steam may be accumulated and, in fact, superheated if occasion should demand 1t.

A further object of tllO lIlVGIltlOIl is the provision of means whereby the supply of water for the steam-generating portion of the apparatus will be regulated automatically and in conform1ty with uhe rapidlty in which the steam is used in the cylinders.

Further objects of the invention Wlll hereinafter appear and be particularly defined in the claims. v

Briefly stated, the present inven'tion aims to increase the power of the internal combustion engine, while at the same time a saving of hydro-carbon fuel for the englne ,is affected. Experience and practical tests have fully demonstrated the fact, by comparison, that the admission of steam at the same time with the introduction of the hydro-carbon'fluid, whether in gaseous form or otherwise, will develop very material results in economy, and also maintain the working parts of the engine in perfectly clean condition from any deposits or carbon, such as is usually found in the internal combustion engine in common use.

The fact upon which the present invention is founded is: that if steam, which contains a certain amount of moisture, is introduced into the cylinder of theengine, simultaneous with the hydro-carbon gas, and the latter is then exploded, the force of such explosion is not only greater than that attained by theexplosion of a gas formed by the combination of air with the fluid; but upon the further theory that such moisture, when subjected to the very great heat of the flash of the exploding gas, will be expanded into many times its volume and therefore assist the explosive power of the gas in operatingupon the piston. .1

hen comparing the explosive force obtained by the gas generated in the ordinary carburetor, with the results obtained by the expansive properties of the moisture in the steam, it is found that in the former tests the force of the explosion may be likened to the blow of a hammer in which the following-up properties are very limited and in fact are dissipated almost immediately after the impact of the explosion or blow. In contradistinction to this, the force established through the expansion of the particles of moisture contained in the'steam, has the effect of following-up the piston in its travel, so that consequently a greater portion of the piston-travel will remain under the active or pushing influence of the expansive force of the steam.

The invention has been clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which similar characters denote similar parts, and in which Figure 1 illustrates the front portion of an automobile showing the engine equipped with one form of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a portion of a pair of twin-cylinder castings equipped with the preferred form of my apparatus. Fig. 3 is a vertical fractional section, on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Refm'ring first to Fig. 1, it should be noted that the apparatus here shown can be readily applied to any internal combustion engine of an automobile without necessitating any changes in the construction thereof, my improved apparatus simply being an addition to what already is in existence, while in Fig. 2 the exhaust manifold of the engine shown in Fig. 1 has been replaced by another which incorporates the elements re- .quired to perform the functions for which my invention is intended.

Referring now to Fig. 1, 10 denotes the exhaust manifold of the engine which comprises apair of twin-cylinder castings C, C, each casting having one outlet leading into the manifold, as usual. A water tank V is attached to the dash I) of the automobile in any convenient manner, and a pipe 11 provided with the stop-cock 12 leads downwardly therefrom into a sight-glass cup 13, the organization being such that when the water accumulates in the cup 13 and seals the lower end of the pipe 11, further feed of water from the tank W is stopped. The cup 13 is connected with a pipe 1st which leads downwardly to the exhaust manifold and is closely coiled around the same, it being understood that the several convolutions have surface contact with the exterior of the manifold 10. The upper end of the coil is connected with the under side of a steam drum or dry pipe 15 disposed at a higher level than the level of the waterobtainable in the side cup 13, so that flooding of the dry pipe will be prevented. It therefore follows that the water contained in the several convolutions of the coil will be subjected to the influence of the heat of the exhaust manifold, and that consequently steam will be generated and'find its way into the dry pipe 15 from whence it is conducted, by pipes 16, into the valve chamber 17 of the several cylinders respectively, past suitable check valves contained within casings 19 (see Fig. 3) and being provided to prevent the dill'usion of the explosion from the chamber 17 into the pipes 16. The cylinder port is herein indicated by 20 and a valve 21 closes or opens a passage 22 leading into the exhaust chamber which is connected with the exhaust manifold 10 as usual. Likewise, the operation of the exhaust valve 21 is connected to the usual camshaft.

Referring now to the preferred form of top of the exhaust manifold so that, when.

the lower portion of this manifold is imassist in generating steam rapidly when,

through the movement of the car, the upper portion of the exhaust manifold should become splashed.

Means are provided whereby the water level in the jacket is maintained substan-' tially uniform, in an automatic manner, these means comprising a float-operated valve 30, the upper end of which closes the discharge opening 31' of a water supply pipe 31 leading from the tankW in the same manner as above described. The float valve 30 is.mounted for vertical movement inside a chamber 32, preferably projecting beyond the end wall of the jacket 36 and-connected within the interior of the latter by an aperture 33. A sight-glass 3 1 may be used in conjunction with the float chamber, in the manner shown, to determine whether or not the required amount of water is contained within the jacket 26, or whether or not the parts are in proper working conditions.

The above described devices are subject to many modifications in construction, as well as in their manner of adaptation, and it should be understood that many changes may be made. herein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1. The combination with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine having a cylmder port and an exhaust valve adjacent.

to said port, of a steam generating apparatus, and means for conducting steam from said apparatus to the said port and above said exhaust valve.

2. The combination with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine having a cylinder port and an exhaust valve adjacent to' said port, of a steam generating apparatus supported from said cylinder, means for conducting steam from saidapparatus to the said cylinder port and above said exhaust valve, and means for admitting steam into the cylinder simultaneously with the admission of hydro-carbon fluid.

3. The combination with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine having a cylinder port and an exhaust valve adjacent to said port, of a steam generating apparatus, a conduit for conducting steam from said apparatus to said port above said exhaust valve, and a gravitative check valve in said conduit adjacent to said'port for preventing tihe return of steam back through said conuit. I

4. The combination with the cylinders of an internal combustion engine having exhaust ports and an exhaust pipe, of a jaeket supported by said cylinders and supporting said exhaust pipe concentrically thereof, conduits establishing communication between the top of said jacket and the ports of I, said cylinders, check valves in said conduits ad acent to said ports, a reservoir 1n commu- 10 haust pipe.

5. The combination with the cylinder of i an internal combustion engine having a port,

an exhaust valve, and an exhaust pipe, of a water supply, means for bringing a part of I said water supply into contact with the lower side of said exhaust pipe, a conduit for conducting the steam generated by the heat of the exhaust pipe to said port above said exliaust valve, and a float valve for automatically regulating the supply of water to be subjected to the heat of the exhaust pipe.

6. The combination with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine having a port,

an exhaust pipe, and an exhaust valve of awater jacket surrounding said exhaust pipe and having a steam space connected with said port above said exhaust valve, a water supply for said jacket, and means at an end of said jacket for regulating the supply of water from the water supply to the water jacket.

7. The combination with the cylinder of an internal combustion engine having a port, an exhaust pipe, and an exhaust valve of a water jacket surrounding said exhaust pipe and having a steam space connected with said port above said exhaust valve, a water supply for said jacket, and a float valvefor regulating the supply of water from the water supply to the water jacket.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. EDGAR U. G. REAGAN.

Witnesses:

H. D. MACDONALD, CHAS; F. SCHMELZ. 

